Bi-Mart employees approve plan to buy out retail chain.Byline: Joe Mosley The Register-Guard That cashier CASHIER. An officer of a moneyed institution, who is entitled by virtue of his office to take care of the cash or money of such institution. 2. The cashier of a bank is usually entrusted with all the funds of the bank, its notes, bills, and other choses in who helped you at the Bi-Mart checkout stand, or the sporting goods Noun 1. sporting goods - sports equipment sold as a commodity commodity, trade good, good - articles of commerce sports equipment - equipment needed to participate in a particular sport clerk who showed you to the fishing lures In terms of sport fishing, a lure is an object attached to the end of the fishing line and designed to resemble and move like an item of fish prey. Lures are equipped with one or more single,double, or treble hooks that are used to hook fish when they attack the lure. ? Chances are, they own the place now. Employees of the 64-store retail chain decided last Thursday whether to participate in an Employee Stock Ownership Plan to purchase the company, and the tabulation tab·u·late tr.v. tab·u·lat·ed, tab·u·lat·ing, tab·u·lates 1. To arrange in tabular form; condense and list. 2. To cut or form with a plane surface. adj. Having a plane surface. of the results on Friday was decisive. "Bi-Mart employees have enthusiastically and overwhelmingly agreed to make Bi-Mart ... a 100 percent ESOP-owned company," company president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Marty Smith Marty Smith (born November 26, 1956 in San Diego, California), is a former professional motocross racer. He won three AMA National Motocross championships, all aboard Hondas, and was runner-up twice. said Monday at an official announcement of the results. "This sale enables Bi-Mart to remain an Oregon company, to remain an independent company and to give our employees an opportunity." The employees - 72.4 percent of the 2,299 who were eligible for the plan - opted to participate in the purchase of Bi-Mart from Smith, the company's other senior executives and Endeavor Capital of Portland, the chain's combined ownership group for the past seven years. The sellers asked employees to use 16 percent of the funds in their retirement accounts - or about $10 million - as a down payment toward the purchase price of $94 million. But the participating employees pledged a total of 20 percent of their combined accounts, or $12.5 million, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the company. "We looked to have those folks make a commitment to this company, and they stepped up and they did," Smith said. He said the company's future is bright despite the debt its new owners will take on in obtaining the balance of the purchase price. The chain has had its head- quarters in Eugene since 1962 - Monday's announcement coming outside the city's first Bi-Mart, at 18th Avenue and Chambers Street Chambers Street is a street in Edinburgh, Scotland, at south of the Old Town. The street is named after William Chambers of Glenormiston, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh who was the main proponent of the 1867 Edinburgh Improvement Act, which gave permission for the street's - and operates 64 stores in Oregon, Washington and Montana. Under the ownership headed by Smith and Endeavor, the company has added 20 stores and increased sales by 68 percent in seven years. Smith said the company spends close to $50 million a year in Lane County alone on payroll, taxes and miscellaneous expenses. Bi-Mart employs more than 300 people at its west Eugene headquarters, and more than 500 others at 10 stores around the county. The buyout Buyout The purchase of a company or a controlling interest of a corporation's shares. Notes: A leveraged buyout is accomplished with borrowed money or by issuing more stock. provides a profit of about $80 million for Endeavour and the group of about 135 executives and managers who owned the firm. Under the deal, the employees' ESOP ESOP See: Employee Stock Ownership Plan ESOP See Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). assumes all of the company's current debt, along with about $84 million in new debt required to finance the purchase. Smith said he considered buying the company himself. But after discussions with his family, he decided instead to endorse the type of employee-ownership plan that had been proposed in 1997 but fell apart under deadline pressure. The ESOP that was approved by employees last week - and took effect immediately - has been in the works since last April. Bi-Mart's current team of senior executives will continue to manage the chain and serve on its board of directors. "I don't think anybody should expect drastic changes," said Smith, who has been with the company for 40 years. "I would hope people will see friendlier clerks," he said. "But our employees do an excellent, excellent job already. So I would hope they will just take a little bit more pride." Under the plan, a portion of Bi-Mart's future contributions to employee retirement accounts will help pay off the purchase debt. As the debt is reduced, employees will get more shares in the business. CAPTION(S): Marty Smith, Bi-Mart president and CEO, explains Monday that the retail chain now will be employee-owned. |
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